We've reached the time of year when, like it or not - or believe it or not - snowflakes
become at least a remote possibility. In fact, today marks the date of the earliest
measurable snowfall in the modern record of observing snow in this area, which began
in the late 1800s.

On this date in 1979, 2.5 inches of snow fell in Wilmington, and just over 2 inches
in Philadelphia, as temperatures hovered in the upper 30s and low 40s most of the day.
These snowfalls
are officially listed as "estimated" because the snow melted almost
as fast as it fell, due to the still-warm ground. Even farther south, an inch fell in Dover.

Snowflakes were actually sighted a day earlier than this in 1895, but there wasn't
enough to measure. And in colonial times, it was reported that snow covered houses
in Philadelphia the morning of October 3, 1769. So even if we go way back in time,
it looks like the first week of October is about the early-season limit for snowflake
sightings in this area.